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What happens if you don't report a change?

It is your responsibility to tell the Tax Credit Office about any change of circumstance that affects your tax credits, for example if you separate from your partner.

The Tax Credit Office uses the information about your change to re-work your payments and send you an amended award notice.

If you don’t report a change that affects your tax credit payments, you may:

• not be getting all the money you're entitled to
• be paid too much money (an overpayment)
• have to pay a penalty of up to £300

If you don't tell the Tax Credit Office about a change, they won't know about it until you confirm your actual circumstances when you renew your tax credits after the end of the tax year. At this point they check whether you received all the money you were entitled to.

It may turn out that you didn't get all the money you should. Or if you got too much money, your current tax credits payments - if you still qualify - are usually reduced to repay the money.

What happens if you're late reporting a change?

Some changes you have to report in one month and others within three months. If you realise that you haven’t reported a change on time you should still tell the Tax Credit Office straightaway. Don’t wait until you have to renew your tax credits claim.

If your change means your payments go down, for example your child leaves full-time education that qualified for tax credits, you may well be overpaid. Your drop in your payments will be backdated to the date of the change. You may have to pay a penalty as well.

If your change means your tax credit payments will go up, such as having a baby, tell the Tax Credit Office straight away. This is because your increase in tax credit payments can only be backdated by up to three months. For example if you had a baby on 12 June but you didn't report this until 12 October, the Tax Credit Office could only give you the extra money from 12 July. You would miss out on one month's extra payment.

• Check which changes you need to report and when

Contact the Tax Credit Office

If you need more help you can call the Tax Credit Helpline on 0845 300 3900, or textphone 0845 300 3909 if you are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment (open from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day).

If you're calling from overseas you can also contact the Tax Credit Office on +44 289 053 8192.

More useful links

• Tax credits - rights and responsibilities

• You've been overpaid tax credits - how did this happen?

• Checking your tax credits award notice

• Tax credit penalties